Projects are where the majority of experimental data will be found. Sometimes there is information associated with these projects that needs to be recorded with them. That’s where project metadata comes in. There are several kinds of metadata that can be created, shown in the image below.
Numeric: Restricted to numbers only
Text: Free text field
Date: Date selection field
Categorical: Drop down selection list
Fixed List (Single): Single-select list only accessible to edit by admin users.
Fixed List (multiple): Multi-select list only accessible to edit by admin users.
To create a “Fixed List” field, an “id source” needs to be selected. This can be a list of entities, such as experiments, projects, lab requests, etc…, user lists, or custom listings similar to the categorical drop down. To edit the custom listings, go to Form Admin by typing ctrl+k (cmd+k for mac), typing “Form Admin”, then navigating to the “Field Options” tab in the top left of the page.
From here, click “Create Set” to create a new listing, then add options as desired. Then when creating the list field, select “Id Source”, navigate to the “Field Options” tab, then select the desired list.
To go back to the project metadata page, type Command K and type ‘project metadata’.
To create options for a Categorical type project metadata field, click the “Edit Options” button on the field list.
Once a project metadata field is created, there are additional settings options that can be selected for that metadata field based on desired use. The options include:
Show on Create: Exposes the field to the user to fill in the value when creating a new project.
Show on Select: Shows this value on the all projects page with the respective project.
Show on Dashboard: Shows this value in the toolbar on the left when inside the project’s dashboard view.
Include in Recipe Metadata: Includes value in the recipe metadata if there’s a matching recipe metadata field
Include as Process Parameter: Includes this value as a process parameter if there is a matching process parameter
Required: Will require the user to fill in this value before creating project
Inherit from Parent: Will be applied to child projects when created.
Add on Creation: Will automatically be added when creating a new project
For example: here, all the fields are marked as “Show on Create” and “Example Date” is marked as Required. Notice, the ‘Add Project’ button is unselectable until a date is selected.
Here “Example Text” is displayed on the all projects page because it is set to “Show on Select”.
Here “Example Numeric” is displayed on the left side because it is set to “Show on Dashboard”.
Examples of the Date and Selection fields:
Example of how these fields display when filled in:
